Having established itself on the short list of Colorado’s most scenic outdoor concert venues, Vail’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater (a.k.a. The Amp) is truly testing its mountain-framed acoustics this summer. With covered reserved seats as well as open seats on the lawn, Concerts at The Amp pair a picturesque sunset with raucous live music.

The 2025 series includes performances by Molly Tuttle (June 6), followed by Trevor Hall’s Monsoon Nights Tour with Fruit Bats  (June 14), stadium rockers O.A.R. with Blind Melon (June 20), back-to-back performances by The String Cheese Incident (Aug 8 & 9), Melissa Etheridge (Aug 12), Wilco (Aug 17),  Joe Russo’s Almost Dead tour (Aug 21), Ray LaMontagne’s Trouble 20th-anniversary tour (Aug 26), The Black Crowes (Sept 13), and Big Wild’s Wild Child Tour (Sept 26).

Arguably the most multi-sensory-engaging festival of the summer, the GoPro Mountain Games features a morning-to-night lineup of trail running, biking, paddling, and dock dog diving competitions as well as a sea of gear tents but also delivers a weekend of top-tier musical talent at The Amp after the adrenaline-fueled action has ended for the day.

Evening festivities begin on Thursday, June 5, with Grammy-nominated Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue followed by a co-headline show on June 6 featuring bluegrass sensation Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway and the soulful California Honeydrops. Reggae pioneers Steel Pulse headline the June 7 grand finale, sharing the stage with platinum-selling singer-songwriter Mike Posner.

The lakeside pavilion at Avon’s Nottingham Park pulses every Wednesday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. as a rich variety of regional and national artists command a stage large enough for a 60-piece orchestra. Hahnewald Bar (named for a barn that once stood on the site when it was a working ranch) serves beer, wine, and cocktails, and food trucks parked on the perimeter feed the hungry masses. The 2025 series had yet to be announced at press time in late April, but last summer’s event included the cool sounds of Joe Samba, the unique rock of The Lil Smokies, and two nights of high-energy funk by Dumpstaphunk. 

On Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. through mid-September, the Town of Vail sponsors weekly free concerts at The Amp. The 2025 lineup includes: Bertha: Grateful Drag (June 17),  Maggie Rose (June 24), Those Crazy Nights: The Ultimate Journey Experience (July 8), Alo (July 15), The Man in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash (Aug 19),  Andy Frasco & the U.N. (Sept 9), and a finale community concert (Sept 16).

Beaver Creek Village hosts a free outdoor evening concert on the Rink Stage every Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. throughout the summer. Don’t be fooled by the Unplugged name. These are not quiet acoustics but high-energy rock, bluegrass, pop, ska, and folk acts. The 2025 series opens June 19 with the early 2000s alt-rock radio hits of Cracker, followed by  ’70s-era pop rockers Pablo Cruise (June 26), Southern rockers Georgia Satellites (July 3), the bright horns and quick ska riffs of Cherry Poppin Daddies (July 10), singer/songwriter Quinn Sullivan (July 17), the ragtime-influenced rock of Blair Crimmins & the Hookers (July 24), electric string quartet Spinphony (July 31), country duo Boomtown Saints (Aug 7), the ear-wormy synth (those with grayer hair: we dare you to un-remember 1982’s “The Safety Dance”) of Canada’s Men Without Hats (Aug 14), rockers Fastball (Aug 21), bluegrass stars Donna the Buffalo (Sept 4), and country rockers Pure Prairie League (Sept 11).

Beaver Creek’s signature performance venue stages a summer lineup of A-list artists in one of the high country’s most acoustically perfect concert halls—appointed with a 40,000-watt sound system, cushy reserved seats with unobstructed sight lines, and even a dance floor abutting the main stage. Elvis Costello debuts the series on June 28, followed by Lyle Lovett (July 12), Jake Shimabukuro (possibly YouTube’s most popular ukulele star, on July 14), Robert Neary’s So Good! The Neil Diamond Experience (July 17),  Jacob Collier (July 27), Rhiannon Giddens (July 31), Jesus Aguaje Ramos (Aug  6), Midland (Aug 7), Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Aug 16), Keb’ Mo’ & Shawn Colvin (Aug 28), and Devon Allman’s Blues Summit ( Sept 10).

Every Thursday evening (except on July 4), sleepy Lionshead Village comes alive from 6 to 8 p.m. with free live music thrumming from a big-top tent pitched in the hibernating ice rink outside the Arrabelle. Although dates had yet to be announced at press time, the summer’s lineup includes Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast, Very Jerry Band, Joey Gulizia, Johnny & The Mongrels, and Tim & Taylor.

Downvalley knows how to throw down too. Live music comes to Eagle Town Park in Eagle every Thursday at 6:30 p.m., with free seating on the expansive lawn in front of the stage where picnicking is a must. The 2025 lineup: The Evolution (June 26), Blue Ox Boys (July 10), Breadbox (July 17), Arts Fishing Club (July 24), BetaRay (July 31), Winyah (Aug 7), and Boogie Machine  (Aug 14).

Looking for an alternate way to appreciate groundbreaking art (other than music and dance) in Vail Village? At 11 a.m. every Wednesday, Molly Eppard, coordinator of the Town of Vail’s Art in Public Places program, leads an hour-long walking tour of the town’s public art collection explaining the history and backstories of some 70 artworks, from Scott Stearman’s 7,000-pound white-painted bronze of a 10th Mountain Division ski trooper marching near Vail Village’s covered bridge to Lawrence Weiner’s To the Extent of How Deep the Valley Is at Some Given Time, a conceptual (yet functional) artwork of sky blue letters installed on the western facade of the village’s main parking structure that serves as the town’s unofficial snow gauge during the winter.

In its 37th season, the Vail Dance Festival stages eight world-premiere performances by more than 150 artists at Vail Village’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and Beaver Creek’s Vilar Performing Arts Center. Led by Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, the roster of dance companies headlining this summer’s festival include Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Colorado Ballet, and BalletX. 
Other highlights: The annual Balanchine Celebration honoring the New York City Ballet founder, staging Concerto Barocco, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Apollo (July 28, Ford Amphitheater; the return of tap dancer Michelle Dorrance with The Center Will Not Hold, a new production featuring 11 performers and live original music composed by Donovan Dorrance (July 30, Vilar);  Dancing in the Park free public performances by BalletX, Colorado Ballet, and festival artists on Nottingham Park’s lakeside stage (July 31, Avon); International Evenings of Dance performances showcasing styles and genres from ballet and modern to tap and street dance, with American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Chloe Misseldine and Royal Danish Ballet Principal Dancer Ryan Tomash making festival debuts (Aug 1 & 2, Ford Amphitheater); and Now: Premieres, a showcase of new commissioned dance works, featuring choreography by Robert Battle, Michelle Dorrance, Justin Peck, Gianna Reisen, Bobbi Jene Smith, My’Kal Stromile, and Melissa Toogood (Aug 4, Ford Amphitheater).

The usual assemblage of America’s most revered orchestras (including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic) returns to Vail Village’s Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater this summer, but Bravo! Vail’s 38th season opens with an orchestral newcomer. 
Led by German conductor and composer Matthias Pintscher, The Chamber Orchestra of Europe makes its Vail debut June 19–22 with Israeli American pianist Yefim Bronfman performing what are sure to be commanding renditions of Brahms’ Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 as well as Chamber Orchestra performances of Stravinsky, Haydn, and Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello.

Next, Mexico’s Sinfónica de Minería, led by Artistic Director Carlos Miguel Prieto (who owns a home in Beaver Creek), will spend its five-day residency (June 23–27) making the rounds from one end of the valley to the other. Free public performances begin in Edwards (June 23, Colorado Mountain College), followed by Gypsum (June 25, Gypsum Town Council Chambers), and culminating with an orchestral debut on June 26 at Nottingham Park’s bandshell, backdropped by the venue’s eponymous lake. The repertoire ranges from Beethoven to Latin American composers Pacho Flores, Gabriela Ortiz, and Alberto Ginastera, and features guest conductors Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Jakub Hrůša, Constantine Kitsopoulos, Peter Oundjian, Rafael Payare, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and Jeff Tyzik.

For those who relish classical music in more intimate settings, the festival’s Chamber Music Series features Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott pairing her piano skills with the Minería String Quartet (June 24, Donovan Pavilion), guitarist Jason Vieaux performing classical works with Escher String Quartet (June 30, Donovan Pavilion), and the world’s most famed pipa player, Wu Man, harmonizing through a strikingly international lineup of pieces with the Verona Quartet (July 8, Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek).

For those who prefer chamber music paired with aperitifs and mingling, the Linda and Mitch Hart Soiree Series presents small ensemble get-togethers at private homes throughout the valley on four select dates (June 27, July 5, 17 & 24).

McDermott also guides audiences through a pair of Immersive Experiences, intimate performances of Chopin at Donovan Pavilion (July 14 & 15), while the festival’s popular Classically Uncorked series finds a new home this summer at the Vail Golf Clubhouse. Both Uncorked performances (July 30 & 31) serve as a Bravo! Vail season finale, with piano duo Anderson and Roe launching into far-reaching sets ranging from the works of Mozart to Star Wars-famed numbers by John Williams to tunes by alt-rock band Radiohead, and include complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres.

After a hiatus following the passing of Vail Jazz founder Howard Stone in 2022, Lionshead’s once-iconic Labor Day weekend event celebrates 31 years of history in the riffing in a new location: Vail Village’s Manor Vail Lodge. Some of modern jazz’s biggest names (John Clayton, Terell Stafford, Wycliffe Gordon, Bill Cunliffe, and Lewis Nash) gather to deliver unique, largely improvised performances that typically turn out to be iconic events in the music world, combining a variety of artists in arrangements that are never repeated again. 

Arguably high country’s most festive Oktoberfest party revolves around an open biergarten at the epicenter of Beaver Creek Village, and two stages with bratwurst eating and stein-hoisting competitions, and live music  emceed by the resort’s ebullient alpenhorn blower, Helmut Fricker.

The Bavarian-inspired resort goes all in on Oktoberfest with two celebrations, first in Lionshead, then in Vail Village with oompah bands and clinking of commemorative earthen steins bottomless with bier.